The present invention is directed generally to electrical connectors and, more particularly, to an improved all-plastic, electrical ribbon connector and an associated hood used to house or enclose the terminating section of the connector.
In recent years, a variety of multi-contact electrical connectors have been developed for use in the data processing and communications industries. A substantial demand for such connectors has arisen in the telephony market where multi-conductor, jacketed cable is used extensively in and between switching equipment, PBX's and computers. These connectors conventionally include an array of either solder or solderless terminals, each of which electrically connects or terminates an individual insulated conductor. In order to protect the connections formed between the bare ends of the conductors and the respectively associated terminals of the connector, a hood is conventionally employed and secured to the body of the connector to enclose or house the individual terminations. The connectors also typically include a strain relief cable clamping device which isolates the individual terminations from adverse tension loads.
For many years, conventional ribbon connectors have included a metal housing as a part of the connector body and metal protective hoods and cable clamping devices. Recently, however, a demand has arisen for ribbon connectors having most if not all of its exterior surfaces fabricated from an insulating material such as plastic. Such connectors are preferred since they reduce the possibility of inadvertently shorting non-insulated circuitry in close proximity to the connector in the telephone switching equipment and other concentrated circuit apparatus used in the telephone industry. Accordingly, a number of so called "all-plastic" connectors have been developed wherein the connector body and hood are fabricated from plastic and the metallic and electrically conductive components of the connector are completely or substantially housed within the plastic components. Typical examples of such prior art connectors wherein either the connector body or hood, or both, are fabricated of plastic are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,657,682; 3,803,530; 3,936,129; 4,035,051; 4,070,548; 4,089,579; and 4,090,770. While such prior art electrical ribbon connectors have met with considerable success in the market place, they nonetheless suffer from a number of disadvantages which have limited their applications and acceptance. Most significantly, the manner in which the prior art protective hoods are assembled and disassembled from the connector body in many instances limits the way in which the connector can be mounted or located within the associated electrical or telephonic equipment. For example, where the hood is assembled to the connector body by sliding it longitudinally along the body, the connector must be mounted such that there is sufficient spacing at its free end to accommodate this assembly procedure. Other connectors allow for pivotal assembly of the protective hood to the connector body, but these do not allow slidable assembly as well. Moreover, in those connector constructions which incorporate self latching hood structures, it is sometimes difficult to unlatch the hood from the connector body and special tools are required in some instances to facilitate the disassembly of the hood from the connector body.
Another disadvantage encountered with at least some prior art connectors is that the latching mechanisms used to maintain associated plug and receptacle connectors fully mated allow ingress of contaminates to the interior portions of the connector. Of course, whenever high density arrays of contacts are employed in an electrical connector, such as a ribbon connector, it is important that such contaminants be sealed from the interior of the mated connectors to insure the integrity of the many electrical interconnections therein.